(Encyclopedia) Ritter, Karl, 1779–1859, German geographer, a founder of modern human geography. He was a professor of geography at the Univ. of Berlin from 1820. He helped define the scope of…
(Encyclopedia) Ellison, Ralph (Ralph Waldo Ellison), 1914–94, African-American author, b. Oklahoma City, studied Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee Univ.). Originally a trumpet player and aspiring…
(Encyclopedia) Goldsmith, Oliver, 1730?–1774, Anglo-Irish author. The son of an Irish clergyman, he was graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, in 1749. He studied medicine at Edinburgh and Leiden,…
(Encyclopedia) N. Scott Momaday (Navarre Scott Momaday), 1934–2024, American writer whose works are reflective of his Kiowa culture, b. Lawton, Okla.,…
(Encyclopedia) Moore, George, 1852–1933, English author, b. Ireland. As a young man he lived in Paris, studying at various art schools. Inspired by Zola, Flaubert, Turgenev, and the 19th-century…
(Encyclopedia) Ortega y Gasset, JoséOrtega y Gasset, Joséhōsāˈ ôrtāˈgä ē gäsĕtˈ [key], 1883–1955, Spanish essayist and philosopher. He studied in Germany and was influenced by neo-Kantian thought. He…
(Encyclopedia) Lucretius (Titus Lucretius Carus)Lucretiusl&oomacr;krēˈshəs [key], c.99 b.c.–c.55 b.c., Roman poet and philosopher. Little is known about his life. A chronicle of St. Jerome speaks…
(Encyclopedia) Wajda, AndrzejWajda, Andrzejänˈjā vīˈdä [key], 1926–2016, Polish film director, leading member of the Polish Film School, which began in the 1950s. His films are typically studies of…
(Encyclopedia) Smith, W. Eugene (William Eugene Smith), 1918–78, American photojournalist, b. Wichita, Kan. Smith is considered one of the principal masters of modern photojournalism. The distorted…
(Encyclopedia) Wolf, Markus JohannesWolf, Markus Johannesmärˈk&oobreve;s yōhänˈəs [key]Wolf, Markus Johannes vôlf [key], 1923–2006, East German spymaster. A legendary cold-war espionage chief, he…
